Pelorocephalus

{{Short description|Extinct genus of amphibians}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = Carnian

| image = Pelorocephalus tunuyaensis.JPG

| image_caption = Skull of Pelorocephalus mendozensis

| taxon = Pelorocephalus

| authority = Cabrera 1944

| type_species = Pelorocephalus mendozensis

| type_species_authority = Cabrera 1944

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision =

• {{extinct}}P. cacheutensis {{small|(Rusconi 1953) (originally Chigutisaurus cacheutensis)}}
• {{extinct}}P. ischigualastensis {{small|Bonaparte 1975}}
• {{extinct}}P. mendozensis {{small|Cabrera 1944 (type)}}
• {{extinct}}P. tenax {{small|(Rusconi 1949) (originally Chigutisaurus tenax)}}

}}

File:Pelorocephalus1DB.jpg

File:Pelorocephalus mendozensis life restoration.jpg

Pelorocephalus (meaning "monstrous head" in Greek) is an extinct genus of chigutisaurid temnospondyls.{{Cite journal |last1=Hart |first1=Lachlan J. |last2=Gee |first2=Bryan M. |last3=Smith |first3=Patrick M. |last4=McCurry |first4=Matthew R. |date=2023-08-03 |title=A new chigutisaurid (Brachyopoidea, Temnospondyli) with soft tissue preservation from the Triassic Sydney Basin, New South Wales, Australia |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |language=en |doi=10.1080/02724634.2023.2232829 |issn=0272-4634|doi-access=free }} It is known from the Late Triassic (Carnian) Cacheutá Formation of the Cuyo Basin and the Ischigualasto Formation of the Ischigualasto-Villa Unión Basin, both in northwestern Argentina. Four species are currently recognized: the type species P. mendozensis, which was named in 1944, P. tenax, which was named in 1949 as a species of Chigutisaurus and reassigned to Pelorocephalus in 1999, and P. cacheutensis, which was named in 1953 as another species of Chigutisaurus and reassigned to Pelorocephalus along with P. tenax. A fourth species, P. ischigualastensis, was named in 1975 after the formation it was found in. The species P. tunuyanensis was named in 1948 but has since been synonymized with P. mendozensis.{{Cite journal | last1 = Warren | first1 = A. | last2 = Marsicano | first2 = C. | title = A phylogeny of the Brachyopoidea (Temnospondyli, Stereospondyli) | journal = Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology | volume = 20 | issue = 3 | pages = 462 | year = 2000 | doi = 10.1671/0272-4634(2000)020[0462:APOTBT]2.0.CO;2 | hdl = 11336/93649 | hdl-access = free }}